The Sault Opera Legacy

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1979

The year of 1979 was one of remarkable accomplishment for Sault Opera with three productions staged - "Gigi", "The Magic Flute", and "The Merry Widow" - and with gross receipts reaching a record high along with receiving more grants than ever before.

The Dragon from "The Magic Flute". This costume was the most rented costume at Hallowe'en time.

It started with the musical "Gigi" in March. Up until this point in time, the company had relied upon local talent (with the exception of James Whicher for "Don Giovanni") for filling all the lead parts of all its productions until after the closing of "Gigi". The major leads in most of the shows had normally included Jo-Ann and Judi Morgan, Vilma Ambel, Erika Dello, Lydia Fritsch, Bob MacDonald, Larry Whalen (the new "matinee idol"), Gloria Chase, David Walsh, Darius Dudley, Barb McGuire, Dario Laurenti, Ted Hallin, Bill Murphy, Fred Webster, Terry McPhee, Ernie Peeling, Hans Geenan, and others too numerous to mention, who had made Sault Opera into the popular theatre organization which it finally had become.

Carolyn Hart (kneeling) as Pamina and Erika Dello as the Queen of the Night in "The Magic Flute"	Patti Gartshore as Papagena and Blair House as Papageno in "The Magic Flute"

In order to balance the lead ensembles, especially in the future opera performances, it was decided to start hiring professional artists if necessary. The milestone was the performance of "The Magic Flute" in June, with James McLean and Blair House of Toronto engaged to sing the lead parts of Tamino and Papageno; John King making his first appearance on stage in Sault Ste. Marie as Sarastro; with Carolyn Hart of Sault Ste. Marie (from the Canadian Opera School in Toronto) as Pamina; local singers Erika Dello as the Queen of the Night; Patti Gartshore as Papagena; Vilma Ambel, Dorice Stephen, and Marla Pritchard as the Three Ladies; and Wilf Beauchamp re-joining the company in the part of Monostatos, completing the ensemble for this opera, which became a great artistic success.

Can-can dancers at Maxims with Judi Morgan as Zozo in "The Merry Widow"

This procedure has been followed since then. The fall production of "The Merry Widow" had Theresa Thibodeau and Marcus Kramer (of London, Ontario) complementing the local leads: Jo-Ann Morgan, Larry Whalen, Wilf Beauchamp, and others.

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